Research and Development Agencies
A research and development agency is a government agency that carries out activities to discover and create new knowledge about scientific and technological topics, for the purpose of uncovering and enabling development of valuable new products, processes, and services. Described below are some examples of research and development agencies. ArmsTech ArmsTech Inc. (AT), also known as ArmsTech Corp, and later ArmsTech Security was one of the largest and most powerful defense subcontractors in the United States. The corporate headquarters was based in Seattle, Washington. History Origins ArmsTech achieved rapid growth during the Cold War in what was a boom time for the arms industry, and became the second largest arms manufacturer in the world. ArmsTech was involved in the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and the rail gun, but they suffered an enormous financial loss when those projects were terminated due to military cutbacks in the 1990s. Moreover, although ArmsTech led the world in the development of stealth technology, they experienced tremendous economic difficulty because of their failure in their bid to manufacture the USAF's next line of main fighter planes. At this moment, ArmsTech was on the verge of bankruptcy, with rumors ensuing that it was the target of a hostile takeover. Metal Gear REX Project Circa May 1996, ArmsTech proposed the development of Metal Gear REX to DARPA, which became a secret black project. The Pentagon's black budget had earlier been freed up after the cancellation of the Arsenal Ship Project, following the death of CNO Admiral Boorda, during its second trials. ArmsTech heavily bribed the chief of DARPA Donald Anderson to back the REX program. They were creating REX to secretly promote a nuclear installation plan in an attempt to overcome a global trend of military downsizing. The rest of the Department of Defense also agreed to the development, namely because they were caught in a similarly bad financial state. In 2002, ArmsTech proceeded with Metal Gear REX's construction at a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island, Alaska. The project was overseen by ArmsTech chief engineer Hal Emmerich who was unaware he was developing a nuclear attack system, instead thinking that he was developing a machine to shoot down missiles for defensive purposes. In addition, the installation of REX's capability of launching stealth nukes via its rail gun, had it been exposed to the public, would have resulted in ArmsTech being shut down, and its president, Kenneth Baker himself facing an inquiry. Shadow Moses Incident By early 2005, ArmsTech had created a new type of nuclear warhead to be used by Metal Gear REX, which was virtually undetectable to enemy defensive systems, and thus could not be intercepted. REX's secret development was divulged after an incident in which a rogue special forces group, led by the renegade FOXHOUND, planned on hijacking the weapon to achieve their own goals. This was thwarted by a lone mercenary hired by the government named Solid Snake. After the incident became public through the release of Nastasha Romanenko's In the Darkness of Shadow Moses, the ensuing controversy surrounding the incident and how it directly went against the Sears Administration's stance on nuclear disarmament and anti-eugenic policies led to the eventual resignation of President George Sears. Baker was on hand during the takeover to oversee the final testing of Metal Gear REX and died during the revolt as a result of FOXDIE, a genetically engineered virus that was also revealed in Nastasha's book, in order to silence him. Baker, immediately prior to his death, also urged the operative sent to dispel the terrorist occupation, Solid Snake to retrieve the data and send it to the Pentagon and quickly quell the incident, as he feared the backlash that would have resulted from the incident had it gone public, causing Snake to become suspicious about what Metal Gear had in terms of equipment. After the incident the specifications for Metal Gear REX were leaked onto the black market by Revolver Ocelot. Post-Shadow Moses Despite the death of its president and the failure of the REX Project, ArmsTech itself survived. At some point after 2006, ArmsTech obtained designs for the canard/rotor wing aircraft, previously a DARPA-funded research project, and successfully resolved issues relating to fixed-wing flight transition. With the emergence of the 'war economy' following the Big Shell Incident, ArmsTech shifted its focus from weapons development to security tools, and rebranded itself as AT Security. In 2011, ArmsTech was responsible for developing and implementing Sons of the Patriots, a battlefield control system designed for both macro- and micro-level management of all soldiers engaged in combat action. Combined with America's reluctance to involve itself in other countries' military affairs, SOP paved the way for an abundant growth in the use of private military companies. ArmsTech also developed the unmanned bipedal weapon IRVING, codenamed Gekko, as well the smaller, three-armed Dwarf Gekko. Guns of the Patriots Incident By 2014, AT Security's s SOP System had become firmly entrenched within both government and private militaries. AT's unnmanned ground vehicles also saw wide use among the PMCs of Outer Heaven. During this time, Drebin 893 claimed to work in production control at AT Security, which was where he acquired ID weapon chips for his gun laundering business, before they had been registered on the SOP System. World Marshal Incidents After 2014, AT Security shifted its focus back to weapons development. One weapon developed by 2018 was Metal Gear EXCELSUS, which was intended to raze cities to the ground. It was however later defeated by Raiden. DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major impact on the world, including computer networking (ARPANET), as well as NLS, which was both the first hypertext system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface. ARPANET's development in particular had roots in the destruction of three telephone relays in Cedar Mountain, Utah, as well as some relays in Wendover, Utah. It was originally established in 1958 under the name of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), but it was renamed DARPA (for Defense) on March 23, 1972, then back to ARPA on February 22, 1993, and then back to DARPA again on March 11, 1996. In 1970, ARPA became involved in several projects, including global positioning satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, a human cannon, and an aircraft comparable to a UFO. ARPA also conducted a project called "Metabolism Dominance" that related to making soldiers fight without eating for five whole days, and another unnamed project that involved getting soldiers to fight without sleeping. After the disastrous results of the Lady Mercury mission, Strangelove transferred from NASA to ARPA and fully dedicated herself to researching AIs in an attempt to avoid repeating the same tragedy, as it was the only place she could make a living from her AI research. Strangelove was later downsized from ARPA, which shortly thereafter became DARPA, as a result of the Détente era being ushered in. The agency was also linked to a foundation who approached Code Talker in 1964 giving him access to an unusual strain of parasites contained within The End's remains. They also granted him access to parasites pulled from the remains of the other members of the Cobra Unit including ones which provided the host with adrenaline in response to pain and others which secreted a pheromone that allowed their host to control insects at will. During the 2000s, DARPA was involved in the creation of Metal Gear REX by ArmsTech after its Chief, Donald Anderson (formerly known as Sigint), himself a big supporter of nuclear deterrence theory, was heavily bribed by ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker to allow development. Besides REX, DARPA was also involved in the Boeing X-50 Dragonfly Canard Rotor/Wing project, although problems in the transition mode resulted in its cancellation in 2006. In addition, DARPA was also involved in the creation of the exoskeleton that was later utilized by Solidus Snake during the 2009 Big Shell Incident and the perfected Land Warrior System equipment that was later utilized by the Hi-Tech Soldiers. In the 2010s, DARPA also funded the creation and testing of a next-generation soldier meant to replace both human infantry and cyborgs, even completing a prototype, the LQ-84i. However, the project was cancelled after 3 years of development due to it lacking brutality. NASA The National Air Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the Executive Branch of the United States Government, responsible for the nation's civilian Space Program, aeronautics, and aerodynamic research. It was founded in July 29, 1958, although it did not become operational until October 1 of the same year, as part of the Space Race. During the first years of its creation, NASA recruited British AI researcher Dr. Strangelove, from the California Institute of Technology, into its Mercury Project, where she first encountered The Boss. Strangelove oversaw the experimental launch on April 21, 1961 that resulted in The Boss's hospitalization. In 1969, NASA conducted its first landing on the moon with the Saturn V. However, a Soviet Spy within NASA stole blueprints relating to the rocket, which resulted in the modifications to the silo at San Hieronymo Peninsula. During the Détente era of the 1970s, NASA's budget was slashed. NASA had also been involved in the creation of the Extraterrestrial Environment Special Forces group in secret during the 1990s, a special forces unit of 'modern day ninjas' enhanced with various drugs and nanomachines, as they had envisioned future conflicts in outer space. However, the controversial nature led to NASA to cancel the creation of the unit, with many of their test subjects becoming mercenaries. In the 2000s, to take into account the privatization and commercialization of space flight, NASA developed two agencies: the Commercial Orbital Transport Services, and the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO) of the Commercial Crew Development, which also delivered supplies to the in-development International Space Station. One of these contracted private companies, Solis Space & Aeronautics, was contracted by the time of 2018. Soldier Systems Center The Soldier Systems Center (SSCEN) was a research and development complex and instillation under the auspices of the United States Army, located in Natick, Massachusetts. It was charged by the Department of Defense with developing and researching new food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and other servicemember support items for various members of the military, of the methods of R&D including fielding and sustainment. Although primarily relegated to the Army, it also researched and developed equipment for all branches of the Armed Forces. During Philanthropy's exploits between 2005 and 2007, Mei Ling aided the group in their attempts to end Metal Gear proliferation by stealing resources from SSCEN for use in their missions, although Solid Snake eventually told Otacon to tell Mei Ling to quit as soon as she can in order to not be caught. Solis Space & Aeronautics Solis Space & Aeronautics was a private space flight and launch vehicle development company based in Colorado. Solis got its start doing Air Force Space Command work for the Peterson Air Force Base, eventually building its own spaceport and relocating there in 2016. Hal Emmerich had several contacts at Solis, and his adoptive daughter Sunny would later join the company. Since late 2017, Solis carried out launch tests almost every day, greatly improving upon the days of preparation once required for test launches into space. This allowed them to reroute one of their launch vehicles for Raiden in 2018, with little issue, so long as it did not break the atmosphere, with the flight only traveling as far as the thermosphere. Raiden utilized the launch from Solis's facility to make a rapid flight into Pakistan. They also had a contract with NASA's C3PO and COTS divisions to perfect their RLVs to allow for space tourism, the latter for handling space deliveries to the International Space Station for the most part, as the costs were decreasing for space travel and people having a vested interest in industrial zero-gravity experiments, with Sunny and Raiden also speculating that they'll have serious space tourism before long, compounded by the Russians building and opening their first Space Hotel.